Colorado Rockies and hitting for the cycle: A June love story

In the history of the Colorado Rockies, there have been nine cycles go into the record books. Of those cycles, four have come in a 10-day stretch in June.

Granted, not all four of those cycles were hit in the same season, but today not only marks Juneteenth, but also the end to a heck of a run in this month for Colorado Rockies players to log a cycle (single, double, triple, and home run in one game).

It was 21 years ago today (June 19, 1999) when Todd Helton put up the first and only cycle of his career, going 4-for-4 in a 10-2 win over the Florida Marlins at Coors Field. Helton tripled off the right-field wall in the seventh inning to cap the cycle and a perfect day at the plate.

Yesterday (June 18) has witnessed two cycles recorded by Rockies players. Mike Lansing put together what is believed to be the fastest cycle in Major League Baseball history by completing the feat in just four innings in a 19-2 bashing of the Arizona Diamondbacks in Denver during the 2000 season.

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Of course, June 18 was also the date of the famed Nolan Arenado walkoff home run for the cycle in a 2018 Father’s Day win over the San Francisco Giants at 20th and Blake. It was just the sixth time in MLB history that a cycle was completed with a walkoff homer.

That blast was a big part of so many Rockies fans’ memories and a recent article I wrote regarding the bond between dads and their kids at the ballpark. It was also a focus for ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian as he touched on the Lansing and Arenado cycles in this article on Thursday.

By the way, while Arenado’s was just the sixth walkoff homer for the cycle in MLB history, we know another Rockies player who is part of that club as well, right? Carlos Gonzalez joined the exclusive group on July 31, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs.

But let’s get back to June. The 10-day stretch of cycles in this month began with Dante Bichette in a 9-8, 10-inning win over the Texas Rangers at Coors Field on June 10, 1998. After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Bichette then doubled, homered, tripled, and hit the game-winning 10th-inning RBI single.

While Rockies fans have often been known to lament the team’s “June swoon,” there have still been plenty of magical moments in the middle of the month.